For several years I would take a deep breath and try to prepare myself for our annual stress fest of Christmas Photo Card picture-taking day. Yes, this is the day when I gather, cajole, bribe and do whatever else it takes to get my two little twins primped and primed for taking their annual Christmas card photo.
After breaking a sweat getting my daughter into her dress and her too tight tights and begging my son not to rip off his sweater vest and snowman shirt, I then comb his messed up hair for the tenth time. Finally, we are ready to get down to business. With camera in hand, I begin to take pictures. Thank goodness for the invention of digital cameras is all I can say. Just a few years ago we would rip through one to two rolls of film of nothing but one eye closed shots, contorted faces, tears or some other gooey, wet substance dripping down someone’s face and endless photos of one or both of them getting up and trying to grab the camera from my tense little sock puppet hands.
Fortunately, the worst of those days are gone. I’ve learned to relax and laugh through it over the last couple of years. Now I make my husband dance like an elf in the background so I don’t have to be both photographer and court jester. That, along with the fact that they are not gooey, sticky-handed toddlers ready to take off after the cat as she prances by casting one of her “thank goodness I am not human” looks, has made things a lot easier.
Last year I was thrilled to get a great shot of the two of them after only 156 tries. “Victory at last!” I thought. My husband came home all smiles with the newly developed photos. He was as pleased as I was with the shot of our adorable twosome in Santa hats. As I went to place the pictures on my photo cards, a feeling of dread started to come over me. I virtually always take horizontal shots but for some reason, I had taken this particular one vertically. Of course, the Christmas card I had chosen was designed only for a horizontal photo. Back out came the holiday outfits, Christmas music playing in November, etc., all ready for a second round of our not so annual Christmas photo cards picture taking event. Oh well, live and learn.